The Ancient Greek’s Giant Horse Headed Chicken!

So I’m curious if this technically qualifies as a mythical beast… while there are numerous visual representations of the Hippalectryon in ancient sculptures, ceramics and freezes etc… there is no official myth in which this horse chicken hybrid plays a principal role. So that leaves us a unique opportunity to leave this sucker wide open and let you tell its tale in pictures… or just draw a silly “cock horse”… really up to you…

Here’s what we do know

Has the Hind quarters and wings of a very large chicken with golden feathers

Has the front half of a horse stuck to the front of that large chicken

Some illustrations show horse-ish forelegs, some don’t… up to you

They’re greek, so they’re probably way into robes, columns, wine and gyros

So there you have it. we’re back to two weeks again to finish of our summer battles (then its back to one!). They’re due by Midnight the night of the 26th but, draw now so you dont forget. I’ll use that time to claim us a suitable judge. You know how it works, draw, and have fun with it! I promise, it’ll make your week better!!!

While our judge this round is more than familiar with judgements and the many involved factors going into them (he’s the hardnosed but big hearted lawyer at my current employer), this time he gets to play a lil switcheroo and instead of arguing the cause gets to rule over the court and dispense justice with his every word! Or at least pick his fav beast. His name’s Doug, and with some focused deliberations with input from both his(almost) 5-year-old and 2-year-old, has come up with the following conclusions:

#14 is the clear favorite of my sons, and they were pretty into it. That probably should have been enough to take it, but it seemed more dragon to me and not faithful enough to the original Greek conception (about which I know very little, of course).

#13 had some Grecian dignity that seemed appropriate, but it was too much rooster and not enough horse, and the horse head was just a bit too human.

#6 was a personal favorite because the expression seemed just right for a half-horse, half-rooster. But the ancient Greeks probably weren’t going for sardonic (again, this is based on pretty much nothing).

#5 was initially the leader, and it was skillfully done and is a nice rendering, with more than a little of the pegasus-ian magic about it. But it would be too typical of the lawyer to go with a more conventional, even if high quality, choice.

#7 is my winner. At first it seemed to have too much rooster and not enough horse, but after thinking more about it, I think it’s what the ancient Greeks would have chosen out of this group. I liked all the detail and the mid-stride (or mid-preen?) pose. This hippalectryon owns his absurdity and has a good deal of pride, which I respect.

So that’s it! Disagree if you must but know the judges word is law! And While the contest aspect of this beast is done please feel free to draw a Hippalectryon at anytime and send it in and we’ll add it to the archives. Remember 25 beasts drawn earns you a shirt!

So say a Hippalectryon was first at the scene at the Kraken’s assault on Joppa, I mean odds are sans gorgon head, he may not have fared as well as he had hoped, and given that the events that transpired soon after probably overshadowed his tale… but that doesn’t mean his sacrifice should just be forgotten…

While this guy looks like a friendly good time, pretty sure he’d get tagged by a bouncers as trouble the moment he walked into a bar… You know what they say: Never trust an excitable horseheaded bird around liquor!

Imagine a world more like wisconsin, where the giant fiberglass beast in front of your establishment (or occasionally on the roof) was the deciding factor on how good your restaurant was… I would assume Hippalectryon’s – Mythic-ally Good Gyros! would do pretty damn well! There’s a great timelapse of Chrispy Doodling this upavailable here Check it out! and thanks to our artist for the plug!

hahaha! It sorta glitches your brain doesn’t it?… like you glance see the glorious halo of light around the mane and wings and your mind settles on majestic 80s “trapper keeper” art but as your eye rolls down, its suddenly wtf is that chicken doing there? And how is it possible that it’s center of gravity still feels right? That’s good beasting!

God Damn! If this was a best vestigial horse legs on a beast contest you’d be my champion for sure! Plus there’s a lovely droop to that cocks tail, the obvious ancient greek setting and I mean, does a comb-over ever hurt?

Man that babies got the Sendak-ian beast prance down! There is obviously an amazing amount of well executed details so I’m just going to roll into the tangent of wondering what percentage of horse is necessary to actually makes a chicken less delicious?

Yes!!! The ol’ giant head tiny wings! You know the only thing keeping him afloat? Sheer determination! I’m trying to decide if the dude in the tower is doing the ministry of funny walks thing or just a simple big armed cheers… either way I always love the faraway details.

I’m assuming this kid is about 30 years shy of having had to have watched the old Dijonaise commercials a zillion times… but know that’s exactly how I say “ba-ganeigh”… with the class that it deserves! Plus with those long a** legs I bet this sucker can move like the wind (mind you… a chicken scented wind)!

It’s funny I’m pretty sure I could run into a 2 ton grizzly and if he was colored big bird yellow, and instead of being afraid, I’d simply assume he was helpful, eager and potentially a lil shy… Love the straight leg, curvy leg combo here, makes it awfully dreamscapey!

Now I don’t know if you’re seeing it but i sorta hope this kid revisits this beast in a few years… It’s got sorta amazing lovecraftian proportions that should be fleshed out… I mean there’s no way, beyond powers from the void, that those spindly legs could support that chubby, predatory, shark-like torso… I bet if we got close enough, the horse has a lamprey’s mouth! Plus it’s obviously got a lil turkey in there, and I like turkeys better than chickens too kid!

Man a two fold switcharoo! First the parts are reversed and then you have to try and wrap your head around out how a horse’s hindquarters somehow delivered that enormous Hippal-egg! That being said, this beast has some damn elegant lines and I sorta want one!